
Klosterpfad - Stage 1 from Mühlhausen to Küllstedt
- Byway I: Neustadt am Rübenberge and Eilvese
- Secondary route II: Hessisch-Oldendorf and Rintel
- Byway III: Monastery trail (total length 79 km)
The Byway III links several preserved and abandoned monasteries. The trail takes you from Mühlhausen and the Hülfensberg Monastery, which has been an important place of pilgrimage in Catholic Eichsfeld since the late Middle Ages, through the Eichsfeld-Hainich-Werratal Nature Park back to Mühlhausen.
- Stage 1: From Mühlhausen to Küllstedt (29 km)
- Stage 2: From Küllstedt to the Hülfensberg monastery (22 km)
- Stage 3: From Hülfensberg Monastery to Zella Monastery (11 km)
- Stage 4: From Zella Monastery to Mühlhausen (17 km)
End point Küllstedt

Klosterpfad (Byway III) - Stage 2 from Küllstedt to Hülfensberg Monastery (length 22 km)
- Byway I: Neustadt am Rübenberge and Eilvese
- Secondary route II: Hessisch-Oldendorf and Rintel
- Byway III: Monastery trail (total length 79 km)
The Byway III links several preserved and abandoned monasteries. The trail takes you from Mühlhausen and the Hülfensberg Monastery, which has been an important place of pilgrimage in Catholic Eichsfeld since the late Middle Ages, through the Eichsfeld-Hainich-Werratal Nature Park back to Mühlhausen.
- Stage 1: From Mühlhausen to Küllstedt (29 km)
- Stage 2: From Küllstedt to the Hülfensberg monastery (22 km)
- Stage 3: From Hülfensberg Monastery to Zella Monastery (11 km)
- Stage 4: From Zella Monastery to Mühlhausen (17 km)
End point Hülfensberg monastery

Klosterpfad (Byway III) - Stage 3 from Hülfensberg Monastery to Zella Monastery (11 km)
- Byway I: Neustadt am Rübenberge and Eilvese
- Secondary route II: Hessisch-Oldendorf and Rintel
- Byway III: Monastery trail (total length 79 km)
The Byway III links several preserved and abandoned monasteries. The trail takes you from Mühlhausen and the Hülfensberg Monastery, which has been an important place of pilgrimage in Catholic Eichsfeld since the late Middle Ages, through the Eichsfeld-Hainich-Werratal Nature Park back to Mühlhausen.
- Stage 1: From Mühlhausen to Küllstedt (29 km)
- Stage 2: From Küllstedt to the Hülfensberg monastery (22 km)
- Stage 3: From Hülfensberg Monastery to Zella Monastery (11 km)
- Stage 4: From Zella Monastery to Mühlhausen (17 km)
End point Zella monastery

Klosterpfad (Byway III) - Stage 4 from Zella Monastery to Mühlhausen (17 km)
Over the years, three side trails have emerged from regional interests to complement the main Loccum-Volkenroda trail. On the one hand, these side trails offer the opportunity to try out a closed circular route of no more than...
show moreOver the years, three side trails have emerged from regional interests to complement the main Loccum-Volkenroda trail. On the one hand, these side trails offer the opportunity to try out a closed circular route of no more than four daily stages to see if pilgrimage makes sense and if hiking is fun.
Byway I: Neustadt am Rübenberge and Eilvese
Secondary route II: Hessisch-Oldendorf and Rintel
Byway III: Monastery Trail (total length 79 km)
Byway III links several preserved and abandoned monasteries. Its route between Mühlhausen and Hülfensberg Monastery, which has been an important place of pilgrimage in Catholic Eichsfeld since the late Middle Ages, runs for the most part through the Eichsfeld-Hainich-Werratal Nature Park.
Stage 1: From Mühlhausen to Küllstedt
Stage 2: From Küllstedt to Hülfensberg Monastery
Section 3: From Hülfensberg Monastery to Zella Monastery
Stage 4: From Zella Monastery to Mühlhausen (17 km)
Source: Pilgrims' Way Hiking Guide, From Loccum Monastery to Volkenroda Monastery with official maps on a scale of 1:50,000. A new way on old paths. 1st edition 2007. ISBN 978-3-89435-995-9
End point Mühlhausen

Luther Trail: Section 39 – From Treffurt to Mühlhausen
The Zella Abbey in the southern Eichsfeld was founded in around 1100 or even earlier as a double monastery and convent for both men and women. The abbey was not badly affected by the Peasants’ War; in 1525 it was plundered, but not destroyed. As a result of the Reformation, all the nuns left the abbey except for the Prioress who felt connected to Luther’s teachings.
Mühlhausen is known as the town of towers, gates and churches. Luther does not have any direct link to the town, and it was his former companion, the radical theologian Thomas Müntzer who was the priest here and led the local rebels during the Peasants’ War. During the war, Mühlhausen was its Thuringian centre. Luther tried to convince the peasants with his arguments and on 10 May 1525, he published the article ‘Against the Murderous, Thieving Hordes of Peasants’ – an exposé that was intended to make it clear that you cannot enforce the law with violence, but should pray for divine assistance. Thomas Müntzer was referred to as the ‘Arch Devil of Mühlhausen’ and someone to be avoided.
On 15 May 1525, the peasants led by Thomas Müntzer were almost entirely wiped out at the Battle of Frankenhausen. Müntzer himself survived the battle. He was arrested, tortured and beheaded in Mühlhausen on 27 May 1525.
According to cultural and local history, St Mary’s Church was used for imperial legal decisions, J.S. Bach’s ‘Ratswahl’ cantata was first played here and Thomas Müntzer preached here. Today the church is a Müntzer memorial and is also used as a music and religious venue.
The interior of the Kornmarktkirche church, which was secularised in 1802, is the home of the Peasants’ War museum and features an exhibition on the progression, the climaxes and the aftereffects of the German Peasants’ War in the context of time and as a part of German national history.
End point Divi Blasii Mühlhausen
Luther Trail: Section 40 – From Mühlhausen to Craula
Luther himself never visited the former free imperial town. That fact that Mühlhausen played an important part in the Reformation and during the German Peasants’ War was all down to the influence of Thomas Müntzer.
In the 15th century, criticism against wrongdoings within the church became louder. They combined with an apocalyptic mood that had – in part – been triggered by the plague epidemic in Europe. At the same time, the economy was changing. Trade was flourishing and farmers and day labourers were becoming poorer. Thomas Müntzer got to the heart of the situation and the current mood and radicalised it. He mixed elements of medieval mystic with apocalyptic ideas and created his theology of revolution. He saw the riots as the beginning of divine judgement and said that exploiters should be executed by the sword.
The role he played in the Peasants’ War was crucial, as he did not just strive for the Reformation of the Church, but also for political revolution. He also saw violence as a means to an end. Martin Luther on the other hand, called for obedience to the authorities. When this did not work, he advocated a brutal approach to quash the rebels: ‘… they should be crushed, strangled and stabbed, both privately and publicly by anyone who is able, just as you would put down a rabid dog’. He called Thomas Müntzer the devil of Allstedt and thus made his former companion his enemy.
The permanent exhibition at the museums in Mühlhausen revolves around Martin Luther’s bitter opponent Müntzer. A special item on display is a replica of the richly decorated sword that Thomas Müntzer is said to have used in the bloody Battle of Frankenhausen on 15 May 1525.
After the rebels were seriously defeated, the defiant preacher was arrested, tortured and later beheaded.
From Mühlhausen the Luther Trail leads to Oberdorla. The Abbey Church of St Peter and Paul here is well worth a visit. At the entrance of the Romanesque church, you can see statues of the two apostles. They are seriously weathered, but still very impressive. The next stops are the towns of Langula, Kammerforst and Craula. From here, it’s worth taking a detour to the Treetop Trail and the ‘Wurzelhöhle’ (Root Caves) at the Thiemsburg National Park Centre at the UNESCO World Natural Heritage Hainich National Park.
End point Church of Our Lady Craula

Pilgrimage Route Loccum - Volkenroda Stage 15 from Friedland to Heiligenstadt
End point Heiligenstadt

Pilgrimage Route Loccum-Volkenroda Stage 16 from Heiligenstadt to Dingelstädt
End point Dingelstädt

Pilgrimage Loccum-Volkenroda stage 17 A from Dingelstädt to Mühlhausen
End point Mühlhausen, St. Peter's Church

Pilgrimage Route Loccum-Volkenroda Stage 18 from Mühlhausen to Volkenroda
End point Volkenroda Monastery
Pilgrim stamps
Pilgrimage stamp "Loccum-Volkenroda" in the House of the Church
Address
Kristanplatz 199974 Mühlhausen
Pilgrim stamp "Loccum-Volkenroda" at the Church of Blaise the Divine
Address
Johann-Sebastian-Bach-Platz99974 Mühlhausen
Pilgrim stamp "Loccum-Volkenroda" at St. Peter's Church
Address
Petristeinweg99974 Mühlhausen
Pilgrim stamp "Loccum-Volkenroda" at St. Joseph's Church
Address
Karl-Marx-Str. 299974 Mühlhausen
Pilgrim stamp "Luther Trail" at the Tourist Information Mühlhausen
Address
Ratsstraße 2099974 Mühlhausen